


It'll get better

by FernShaw



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Caring, F/F, Hornet completly freaks out basically, Hurt/Comfort, Lace is nice and caring, Loss of Limbs, Sickfic, it'll get better I swear, tw suicidal thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:34:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24899263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FernShaw/pseuds/FernShaw
Summary: Hornet's molt goes very wrong and she looses a leg because of it.And so she and her girlfriend now have to adapt
Relationships: Hornet/Lace (Hollow Knight)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 65





	1. Begining

This kind of things happened. Sometimes. It was scary, stressful and hurted, but there was nothing she could do to prevent it. Hornet slowly felt her body giving up the joints of the limb that was once her, as she slowly tried to get out of her molt. Her breath was erratic, she was trembling with every little part of her body that was still attached to her exosqueleton. Everything felt like it was going to give up too. She was scared, so scared ... 

Her mother warned her before, molting was something most bugs did and accidents were bound to happen to some of them, especially hybrids, being more fragile with their physique. But no matter how detailed and accurate her description of the feeling was, there was no possible way of putting into words the panick of having a limb simply being ripped of you without any having any possible way to express your feelings without aggravating the situation. 

Hornet was strong, bold, courageous and incredibly stubborn, especially when it came to seeking help. But this was too much for her. After a few minutes of shedding tears without making any sounds, she let out a big whimpers and called weakly 

"..L...ace ?"

Thankfully the answer was immediate. 

"Yes dear ? Do do you need anything ? Maybe something to eat after you're done ?"

With the lack of response, Lace simply decided to move and see by herself what was going on. She didn't need any explaination to see what was going on. Hornet, hanging of the ceiling, with one of her legs stuck into her moly that was weakly hanging, barely even attached to her body anymore. 

"Hornet, dear, are you okay."

The spider took a deep breath and decide to just let her pride out of the subject for once.

"No ... I'm not ... I'm really not."

The white bug slowly approached the whimping Weaver, and started whispering to her hears to try to call her down. 

"You're doing great. You have the right to be stressed and want to end this quickly, but calming down is the thing you need to think about. Here, riiight... Breathe in, breathe out. I'm here with you, okay ? Nothing worse will happen. Just focus on my voice."

Hornet concentrated on her girlfriend's sweet tone and slowly got one of her arms off her old shell. 

"Very good dear. See ? Everything will be but like that, you're with me ? Take your time."

Slowly but surely, and not without more tears being shed, Hornet got out of her molt. Not only did she hated being so fragile and defenseless after time like these, but having to deal with everything coming with the loss of this leg was clearly a lot more than she could deal with. She tried to approach Lace but her body barely moved, exhausted from the energy she gave and too weak to do any kind of proper action. She closed her eyes, laid down on the ground and felt her whole body being lifted. Lace slowly carried the fragile spider into her bed, carefully placing her onto the sheets with a patient smile. Hornet let out a very little thanks and passed out, slowly pet by an attentive hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has quite real inspiration, I had the idea of it when my mantis named Hornet sadly lost a limb in her molt.  
> And me being a dumbass handicaped person I had the urge to take this opportunity to vent. 
> 
> This story is mainly going to be short chapters that don't need to be all read to understand the story, except the first one of course  
> Enjoy <3


	2. helpless

"Keep your hand on my shoulder. It's alright. Walk with me, one, two ..."

Hornet tried to move her body in rythm but immediately fell down. It was the fourth time in a minute. She had more than enough.

"AAAAH I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE ! Just ... Let me alone, I can't do this."

"But you're far from being okay with walking, honey ..."

"That's my fucking point. I can't do it. I had enough. I know my body and it's not ... That. I'm thinking way too much about all of this and how I would have moved before, it's just ... Frustrating."

Once again, Lace helped her girlfriend get back on her feet. Hornet was wobbling and barely stood still, but still pushed her partner back once she got a minimum of stability, which resulted in her immediately falling down once again. 

"Hey I'm here to help you, you don't have to push me like that if you don't want my help."

"... Fuck off."

Lace sighed and got out of the room, leaving the spider on the ground. Yes, Lace might have not been the best to explain how to walk properly with an missing limb, mainly because she never experienced it in the first place, but she clearly didn't deserve to be treated in such ways. 

She went to their kitchen and quickly found herself a cooking book to help her change her mind, immediately grabbing a few ustensiles to make something. She wasn't the best cook there was, yes, but doing something with her hands would probably help her calm down. 

She grabbed a few vengefly eggs, ant blood, flour and chocolate chips. Cookies. That'll do. 

Quietly humming to herself, Lace watched to batch of biscuits slowly baking over the fire she put. The white bug was someone who could easily forgive little fights like theses and but always wanted to make up as quick as possible for to stop herself from wanting stupid little revenges over something so small. She wasn't mad, but she did her best to help with the situation and only got yell at in the end, which obviously wasn't pleasant. 

Suddenly, she hear a little something coming from their bedroom. Whimpers. That clearly wasn't the right time for her to get back to see Hornet, her probably being still pissed off at everything, but Lace couldn't stop herself. She loved her. And hearing her crying was clearly too much. She rushed towards the room only to discover that Hornet had barely moved in the last 30 minutes, still laying pitifully onto the ground. 

"Hornet, dear !! Are you alright ?!"

"I can't ... I can't get up ... I can't ... I want to..."

Lace immediately embraced the trembling body and slowly moved her onto their bed. The floor was wet from tears, as well as her shell and cloak.

"Here, here, it's alright Hornet. Why didn't you asked for help ? I would have certainly heard you, you didn't have to let yourself down like that !"

"I didn't want to ... I don't want to always rely on you, I'm tired of having to ask for every little thing I need... I don't want you to always be mad at me ... I'm not weak, I'm not weak !!"

Lace's face softened as she slowly pet her lover's cheeks.

"Hornet, I'm not mad at you. It's not your fault you're like this, and you have the right to cry and be angry. I was just nor happy with the fact that you yelled at me, that's all. You're not weak, and I think I'm one of the best people to talk about that. You're just ... In a bad situation. It happens, and there's nothing we can do except wait. So please, do not stop yourself from asking help, okay ?"

The spider slowly nodded as she hugged her dear little fencer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I only wrote this chapter only to vent and write about a story where someone who has similar issues as mine get a good treatment ?  
> ... Yeah I won't deny it


	3. It hurts

Not being able to get out of the house was something. Not being able to walk was another. But nothing could have prepared Hornet for the pain that was caused by the loss if her leg. 

Every second, day and night, she was only focusing on the fact that her leg wasn't there. Nothing she did was getting her out of that thought and that was the major problem at this state. Focusing on the fact that something was obviously missing sent a message to her brain, that something was wrong. So the brain sent pain to tell her that she should resolve that problem. But how could she even solve a problem that, by definition, wasn't even here in the first place ? 

She was turning crazy. There was simply no other words. All day all she did was moan and hug her blanket, cursing everything she could think of to at least change a little her thoughts. 

But that wasn't enough. It was never enough. 

A violent scream was heard coming out from the girl's bedroom, immediately alerted Lace. The fencer rushed to the sound, preparing once again for any kind of problem this might be.

"Hornet !? Is something wrong ?!"

"I can't take it anymore, I hate it, I HATE IT ! I wan- I NEED THIS TO END ! I really can't take it anymore ... It's so horrible, I just feel like I'm going mad at every second. I want this to stop, even if I hate to die !!"

"Shhh Hornet, calm down. I know it's difficult and I won't deny it for the world, but please be patient. It would really be a shame if you, the daughter of hallownest, savior of not one but two kingdoms, just threw herself off a cliff just because she wasn't patient enough, wouldn't it ?"

"Pfff ... I can't even reach a cliff in this state."

"And I would certainly not be the one to bring you here. Have you thought about me for a second ? How do you think I would be reacting to you just deciding to end your own life ?!"

"Well I'm not exactly sure, when we met, if I remember well, you would have gladly threw me off a cliff."

"HORNET ! That's- Gosh that was sooo long ago and you know what I meant ! You're so unforgiving you little-"

She stopped at herself when she saw her girlfriend laughing with a big smile if her face. She was still shaking a bit from the pain but she finally was occupied on something else than the fact that it hurted, and that was already an incredible thing to witness. 

"Looks like you're enjoying yourself seeing me panicking, huh dear ?"

"I'm hahaha... I'm sorry Lace, it's just .. pfff ... Thinking from back then and comparing it to now is just sooo ridiculous. Who would have thought we would end up like that ?"

"Mmmh ... Me maybe ? You know, since I was flirting with you and all."

"Wait. That was flirting ?!"

"... Indeed."

"Dear Wyrm you're terrible."

And once again the spider went back to her laughter, softly watched by her lover.


	4. Chapter 4

Hornet always lived with questions in her mind. She was curious about everything but was mostly overthinking every single information that was given to her. For a short time, her mother was here to reassure her. Thoughts were simply nasty little things that didn't really matter, because everything felt so simple in the mouth of her caring birthgiver. Herrah was powerful, intelligent, but most of all knew things that most people didn't. She had killed to get to this knowledge and place. Numerous times. But still, she was the most reassuring presence Hornet ever knew. She never had the answer to everything, but her voice, her sweetness made everything feel like it was alright nonetheless. 

But now Hornet was alone. And scared. No one was here to tell her that everything can and will be alright and actually make her believe that it will be the case. Lace was a great caregiver, probably one of the rare people Hornet was okay to spend time with without exploding in rage at this period of pure fear. But she wasn't Herrah. She wasn't as sage nor as imposing. And she wasn't able to answer Hornet's questions. 

Hornet always knew that she could loose a limb in her molts. The fact was, she never asked if it was permanent or not. Because she obviously never believed it would happen to her. It was one of theses numerous warnings of "do this if this happens" that you just nod to and believe that it won't be useful because of course it'll never happen to you in particular. Spiders weren't known enough by her and the people she knew to establish a rule of limb regrowth. It felt very random depending on species. Mantises regrew their limbs without even caring about it, just like grass getting even greener where you cut it. But stag beetles never healed. Once one of their legs was destroyed, there was no going back. They would never run again in their entire life. And Hornet was afraid that spiders and beetles were the same. 

Every day was even scarier than before. The cut was slowly healing but nothing ever regrew out of it. Was it permanent ? Will she be trapped in this cursed body until her last days ? Or did she have to wait ? If yes for how long ? Weeks ? Months ? Years ? Maybe a few molts ? But what if this molt was her final one ? 

Too many questions, no answers. Frustration at its peak. 

This night was just like any other. The spider was just laying down or bed, too distracted by her injury to be able to sleep properly but too concerned by her lover sleeping next to her to move out of the sheets. 

And just like every night, she asked herself theses cursed questions. With no answer except her biggest fears. She looked at what was a perfectly functioning body in the past, clenching her teeth and stopping herself from growling. She wasn't getting any closer to help and she knew it. But there was something she could do. It was simple yet she has never thought of it. Adapt. You only make stronger what you're focused on. So instead of finding a solution to the initial problem, she had to think of a way to make life easier to manage. 

She looked at her hand. Little threads of silk were laying down in it, the result of her being under constant pressure.  
That was it.  
Adapt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is that a stag beetles and broken legs reference ? Mmmh perhaps


	5. Hunt

Noise. Smell. Fear. Hornet forgot how much she loved hunting. It was very difficult to manage to stay silent without all of her limbs but she couldn't make it if she never tried. 

The rustling of bushes around her made her completly lost control of her thoughts. After waiting for so long for this moment, Hornet's instinct was yelling at her to attack anything that moved. Stopping herself from doing so felt like a good idea, but everything felt so tempting. 

Another rustle. Hornet flinched, hummed the air, looked at the bushes, and immediately jumped towards the noise. The little moss creature noticed the obvious threat and rushed towards the nearest safe point, surprising the spider and making her loose control of her body and smash herself on the ground. It was unpleasant, to say the least. She didn't felt like her pride had been threatened, but loosing against a mossbag was surely not something that she could tell without being at least a little embarrassed.

Still, Hornet didn't loose hope. There was still plenty of little creatures wandering around. This day, she was the one who will bring food to their nest. She promised it. 

"Honey, I'm home !"

The fencer rushed towards the door to see her lover covered in bruises, standing up using her threads of silk attached to the door, and proudly holding a basket full of diverse little bugs. 

"You caught all of that by yourself ? I will have to admit, I might have underestimated you. I'm proud of you."

The spider smiled, visibly holding back her need to explode in pure joy. She worked hard to get better. And she did even better that she and Lace expected. It felt rewarding. For the first time since her molt, something felt fair. 

"I ate a tiktik... And the ground. No need to cook for me tonight."

Lace chuckled and started looking at her lover's hard work. A vengefly, a crawlid, a few tiktiks and even a maskfly. Theses were particularly hard to catch, even for someone whose body condition was nearly perfect. 

"That is impressive. How did you manage to catch all of that ?!"

"It is no secret, love. I just managed to master completly my silk for it to be my new way of traveling. From now on I shall take everything at my advantage."

The spider tried to salute the white bug with a big smile on her face, but got some silk attached to one of her horns, causing her to panick, trip and manage to get herself trapped in her own web. Lace did her best to stay serious but couldn't help but laugh at such a ridiculous view. Hornet, feeling a little bit awkward at first, slowly started to laugh too. It felt good. Relaxing. 

She was finally getting better.


	6. Fair

Jumping, binding, avoiding attacks ... 

Hornet was glad Lace accepted to train with her. 

Hornet wasn't fearing for her leg anymore. Well, she was, but that wasn't her biggest concern at such moment. Staying in bed all day felt boring. Annoying. And for several reasons. Not only Hornet was frustrated that she wasn't able to fight nor train, but she was worried that she might become rusty. And not being able to fight just because she stayed in bed so much that she forgot how to use a simple needle was probably Hornet's biggest fear. 

But now the spider decided to adapt, to evolve. Her body wasn't working like it was supposed to ? It did not matter, as will her mind would now find solutions rather than focusing on the fact that she had a problem. And Hornet was lucky enough to understand that jumping around using her sticky silk as a thread was more than appreciated by her body. It felt easy, instinctive, and putting sticky traps around the battle area was surely very effective against enemies that weren't prepared to fight a spider. And even Lace, her dead fencing partner, had difficulties to adapt to such environment. 

Dodging pretty much everything, Hornet felt powerful to see that the fierce Lace was having trouble battling her. She jumped, released a final thread of silk using her needle as a way to direct the projectile and looked at her opponent, trapped in the white substance on the ground, barely able to move.

"Ha ! I win !!"

"Yes, you did."

Hornet looked at her needle with a genuine smile on her face. She did it. She did it despite being in a position of weakness. Lace was on the ground, right under her, trapped in silk, at her complete mercy. Hornet was able to win against her without any help, and despite the situation she was in. 

"Wait a minute- you didn't just let me win, didn't you ?!"

"My dear little spider, I think that no matter how hard I tried, I wouldn't be able to fake being wrapped in silk. Are you still uneasy with your own thoughts again ? I already told you, you're strong, you just didn't mastered your new way of functioning yet. "

Hornet shivered yet smiled, delivering her girlfriend from her thin yet deadly prison. 

"I'm ... Well maybe... But I did it ! C-can we train more ?! I'd really want to show Hollow this method but I'm not sure if I know completly how to use it..."

Lace got of the last threads around her body, immediately grabbing back her pin. 

"Of course. But remember, I will not be gentle. En garde !"


	7. Finally

"I'm scared. I can't do it, I just- ... I just can't !"

"Listen Hornet, I'm here with you. You're stressing out and it's normal, but you've got to understand that it'll get better. And in the end, what could go worse ?"

"I don't know. Loosing another limb perhaps ? Lace, have even thought before telling me that ?"

Hornet giggled seeing her girlfriend's face decomposing after she said such a simple thing. It was a good relief for such moment. Hornet waited for her next molt for what it felt like ages. She was still unsure about a possible healing for her limb, but would probably not feel too bad if it didn't happen. She learned to live with it at this point, and it felt like it didn't mattered anymore. But still, the idea of loosing another limb was something she couldn't get off her mind. It happened once. Why wouldn't it happen again ? Plus, a lot of stress usually was something that only made molts even more difficult to succeed. 

Thankfully, Hornet was usually someone pretty calm. And if the situation was really something she couldn't handle to think about, she couldn't escape it. Molts were something natural that would have to happen for her entire life, and there was no escaping it. 

"Lace, c-can you get out of the room ? I think it's starting and ... I need to be alone."

"No problem sweetie. Like always, call me if you need help. I'll be cooking something for you for when you're done, spending 4 days without eating probably didn't do any good to you."

"Y-yeah ... Thanks."

Hornet climbed on the ceiling as she watched her partner going out of the room, gripped the rocks, concentrated and slowly let her her body slide out of her last shell. 

Wanting to be alone in a quiet room for such thing was only due to base instincts of spiders. A body that just molted was usually very weak, and fragile. Very easily killed by any contact with a sharp surface, and a very easy person to murder for any kind of creature lurking around. As a princess, she learned that this state was possibly the way that she'll die with all of the enemies's attacks. She was safe now, but her brain couldn't help but think about everything that shedding meant. 

That's why she lost a leg last time. She was way too stressed about all of her nasty thoughts. But that was not going to happen twice. 

She took a deep breath as she felt her body getting more and more into the freedom of movements, appreciating the relief of feeling that the upper half of her body was already doing good. 

And in a last stretch, her body fell down completly off the molt, as she kept griping the ceiling not to fall and break her fragile skin. She took a little time to stretch her four limbs and-

Four. She had four limbs. 

The spider looked down to her hips seeing a leg, lighter than the rest of the body yet still there. It was back. She had a leg once again. 

She took a little time out, putting her hand on her face and trying to gather her thoughts before realizing she was sobbing. 

It did. It got better.   
Everything was alright now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading that fic, I had a lot of fun writing it and having some smaller chapters helped me to get a bit of free time <3  
> Fun fact, the mantis who inspired this fic is molting when I'm posting this chapter, and should recover too :D

**Author's Note:**

> This story has quite real inspiration, I had the idea of it when my mantis named Hornet sadly lost a limb in her molt.  
> And me being a dumbass handicaped person I had the urge to take this opportunity to vent. 
> 
> This story is mainly going to be short chapters that don't need to be all read to understand the story, except the first one of course  
> Enjoy <3


End file.
